Stargazer
by Scrum
Summary: Luka had strange dreams sometimes, dreams that she could never quite remember. There would always be someone there, someone important, but who, she couldn't recall. As for when it all started...perhaps it would be when she was a child, and talked to the stars. Negitoro, Miku/Luka
1. Chapter 1

Luka stuttered too much.

She knew that, of course. After all, no one at school let her forget it. All the stammered 'um's and 'uh's that she couldn't control, the hesitation of her words, the way they came out all mixed and jumbled up all together...her classmates would always make fun of her for that. She was weird, to them. She had her head stuck in too many books, she had her eyes gazing too much at the sky.

The teacher would call on her in class, and Luka would often be stuck in some sort of reverie. Usually the teacher had to call on her again, sometimes as many as two more times before Luka re-emerged back into the humdrum reality of class.

Around her, her classmates would snicker. 'Toeto', they called her, and the moniker stuck.

It was no wonder that Luka had no friends, and in the unforgiving city of Crypton, her parents were too preoccupied with their jobs to pay much mind to her either.

So at night, after school, Luka would go to her family's apartment, alone. Go up the elevator, alone, and unlock the door and head in, alone. She would do her homework at the kitchen table, and eat whatever was left in the fridge for dinner. Her mom, mindful of her late working hours, always endeavored to cook up a large stock of food in the morning that Luka would dole out in small portions to herself for dinner.

Afterwards, Luka would go back to the living room, and look out the window at the stars. Somehow, despite the light pollution of the city, Luka could still make out a few of them, twinkling in the night sky from a billion miles away. There was one in particular that to Luka's eyes was prettier and brighter than the others, a faraway blue one. She would always fix her eyes on that one in particular, and, because Luka was a lonely child, and had no one else to talk to, she would speak to it.

Whenever she talked to the stars, she didn't stutter. After all, the stars wouldn't judge her. They were far, far away, and they always twinkled so brightly and kindly that it felt like she could tell them absolutely anything.

It was foolish, Luka knew, but in the absence of a friend, and parents at home, what else could she do? Who else would listen?

-xxx-

It was a cold spring night, and Luka was on the balcony of the apartment, finger stuck between the pages of her book. She had been reading some old fantasy book that she had found in the dusty corner of her father's bookcase. It was an interesting enough tale about dragons and knights – enough to keep Luka preoccupied for a few hours, but only for a few before she felt the urge to talk to the stars again.

It had been a particularly bad day at school – the teacher had called on her, and even though Luka knew the answer, she had such a hard time saying it that her classmates gave in to their usual jeering with even more violence than usual. The teacher had tried to calm them down, but the class was rowdy and hardly listened. It was only after several agonizing minutes when they quieted enough for Luka to give out the answer in her trembling stutter, and afterwards, when she sat down, she could hear the snickers of her classmates all around her.

It was almost enough to make her cry, but she was twelve now. She wasn't a baby anymore, and years of isolation had served Luka well enough. She knew that no one would come to her aid if she cried. It was only an attractor for more bullying.

"Good evening, Ms. Star…" For some reason, Luka always began her addresses to the stars with such formality. Growing up in a cold household probably served to make her a little colder than normal as well. She had her eyes fixed on the far-off, twinkling blue star, as usual. "How was your day?"

Utter silence answered her, but it had only been what she expected. The wind blew around her, a little stronger than normal, and Luka brushed a few errant strands away from her face before speaking again. "Mine was…okay." She sighed, sinking her chin onto her hand. "How is it over there, in space?"

"Oh, it's super great!"

Luka gave a start, nearly falling off the balcony. Her eyes widened, and blinking, she squinted up at the sky again. Nothing seemed to have changed. She looked to her left, seeing only emptiness, and then looked to her right.

At the sight, she stumbled backwards, holding her book half-protectively up to her chest like a shield. There, on the top of the ledge of the balcony, stood a girl, grinning, with long teal hair that hung down to past her waist, done in twin tails. She was dressed strangely too, as though she was from the future, a sleeveless button-down and multicolored lights that glittered on black sleeves that came up from her elbows, and extended down past her fingers.

"Wh-what the…" Luka stuttered. "Wh-who are you?"

The girl laughed, easy and carefree. "Who am I? I'm a friend, of course!"

"A…a friend?" Luka said, dumbfounded. She never had a friend, but the warm way the girl said it made Luka feel a tight clench in her chest.

The girl smiled then, and stepped lightly off the balcony. Luka's eyes widened – they were up on the twentieth floor – and she quickly rushed over, only to see the girl waving at her from way down below, completely unharmed.

"Come down!" the girl said, her voice carrying clearly in the cool spring air even though she was twenty stories down.

 _This has to be a dream,_ Luka thought, numbly, and instantly felt reassured. Of course. This could only be nothing else. She had fallen asleep, surely, while reading the book. She was likely on the couch, snoozing away. In reality, there was no way this crazy series of events – a girl popping up on her balcony out of nowhere, jumping down twenty stories only to land completely unharmed, and Luka being able to hear her so clearly even though she was so far – could happen.

"Do I…come down from here?" asked Luka, pointing at the balcony.

"Sure," said the girl. "Don't worry! I'll catch you."

Luka eyed the drop from her apartment. It looked pretty far. Even though this was a dream, Luka wasn't quite sure about trusting this random girl who popped out from nowhere.

"Ahh, I thought you might be a bit scared," said the girl. "Hang on, I'll show you something cool."

Luka saw the girl put out her hands, palms out – from so far up, Luka could barely make out the action – and a silvery mist emerged from her palms, a mist that rapidly coalesced into a fluffy-looking cloud that slowly drifted up to Luka's balcony like an elevator before stopping.

Yup. There was _no way_ this was anything other than a dream. That in mind, Luka stepped onto the cloud, feeling the soft give under her feet. It was comfy and cool to the touch, and supported Luka's weight easily. Luka hesitantly lowered her weight and sat down, and the cloud conformed to her shape, lightly carrying her all the way down to the ground, where the girl waited, hands on her hips, grinning widely.

"Whaddya think? Pretty cool, huh?" she said.

"Yeah," said Luka, nodding. It _was_ pretty cool. "I've never…ridden on a cloud before."

The girl only smiled at her before turning around, and it was then Luka realized that she was a little taller than her. "Yeah? You should try it more. It's definitely my favorite way of getting around. So…" the girl whirled around again, clapping her hands together, "what's there to do around here? I've never been here before!"

"Hmmm," said Luka, casting her eyes around. She lived in a more residential area of the city, and the blocks around her were quiet and still, with nary a soul walking the street. However, Luka was lucky enough to live next to a park. "Well, there's a park across the street. It has a lake, and flowers, and a zoo…oh, but the zoo's probably closed this time…"

"Eh, closed, schmosed," said the girl, waving her hand. "Sounds fun! Show me the way?"

Luka acquiesced, walking across the street to get to the park. She climbed over the short fence to get in. Once there, the girl's eyes widened in pure delight, as though she's never seen a park before. She crouched down and examined the grass, putting her hands palm-down.

"Wow," said the girl. "This is really cool."

"There's no…grass, where you're from?"

"Hm…well, nothing like this," the girl said, somewhat distractedly as she picked at the grass. "We have flowers though! But," she flattened herself on the grass, fixing her eyes on a small daisy, "they're a little bigger than the ones here."

"There're big flowers here, too," said Luka. "I read about them. There're really big ones in the rainforests."

"Oh?" said the girl, smiling. "We should go sometime." She said it so casually, as though two kids could just pack up and fly to the rainforest. Although, this girl _could_ conjure clouds out of nowhere, so Luka supposed anything was possible.

Then, it occurred to her that she didn't know how old the girl was. "Ah…by the way, how old are you?"

"Me? I'm fourteen!"

"Oh! You're older than me…"

"Really?" the girl brightened up. "Wow! I'm not usually older than someone. How old are you?"

"Er…I'm only twelve," said Luka, awkwardly looking down. Usually, in her experience, older kids didn't often play with younger kids. Especially not teenagers. "Is that…is that okay?"

"Huh?" the girl blinked her teal eyes in confusion. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"W-well…u-um, you're…you're older," said Luka, hating how she was stuttering all over again. She had been doing so well, too. "At my school, the older kids just play with the older kids."

"Hey, hey," said the girl, laughing. "That doesn't matter to me. I think you're plenty fun. Hey, lemme show you something cool," she clambered up to her feet, eyes bright and excited. "I'm not all that good at this yet, but…" the girl squeezed her eyes shut, putting her hands outwards.

For a moment, nothing happened. But then, to Luka's astonishment, flowers and vines, all bright and glowing in blues and purples, started sprouting around her, growing out from between blades of grass. The vines clung to whatever trees were available, sneaking upward with ferocious speed as bright blossoms appeared from its tendrils, and colorful, large mushrooms popped up close by, shedding luminescent light onto the trees.

"Wow," Luka breathed, eyes wide as she took in the sight. The humdrum park she spent some of her time in had, in the span of a few moments, become completely transformed into some beautiful, alien landscape. "What is…"

The girl put her hands down, and when she grinned, it seemed like it took a little more effort than usual. "Whew…that really took a lot out of me." She plopped down on the grass, and Luka noticed with slight alarm the eyebags that had appeared beneath the girl's eyes. "I guess I shoulda practiced that more, back home. Anyways…" she swept her hand out at the landscape, "this is what it looks like where I'm from. Lots of these flowers, and these vines, and these mushrooms."

"It's really cool," Luka said, eyes wide. She reached a hand out to a flower, before quickly drawing it back. "Can I…"

"Of course," said the girl, sending her a tired smile. "You can pick as many as you want."

Luka nodded, and started gathering as many of the flowers as she could. They were delicate, the stems like gossamer under Luka's clumsy fingers. The first few Luka touched crumbled under her fingers like ash, the luminescent petals flying away with the wind, but soon Luka managed to get a sense for how she could pick them without damaging them, and soon enough she had a large collection of flowers in her arms. She ran over to the girl, who had not moved from where she left her.

"I got a bunch," she told the girl excitedly. "Here!" She pushed the makeshift bouquet into the girl's hands.

The girl, blinking, took it. "Huh?"

"It's a…a bunch of flowers," said Luka. "As a thank you. Because…they're pretty."

"Oh," said the girl, and she smiled. "That's really nice. Thank you. I wish I coulda put in even more, but," the girl grinned sheepishly and looked down, "I'm not really good at that kind of stuff yet. There's all sorts of cool stuff where I'm from, but…I guess I can't show you yet."

"How do you do it?" asked Luka, crouching down.

"Well, it's kinda complicated—"

"Is it magic?" Luka interrupted. She couldn't think of any other way something like this could be done.

To her surprise, the girl laughed. "Magic! Well, I guess it is a kind of magic. Anyways…" the girl got up to her feet, hands on her hips and looking around, "I'm glad you liked all this. Do you like flowers?"

Flowers? Well, Luka supposed they were nice enough, but she never thought about them particularly much. "They're pretty."

"Yeah," said the girl, looking content as she gazed out at her handiwork. "I like them a lot. There's all sorts of different types too. Some of them are real dangerous, but others are just pretty, like these."

Luka nodded in agreement, looking out at the transformed park. It _was_ peaceful; all the soft lights gave the park a blue glow, and there were even specks of green flickering around the mushrooms. It was then when she realized that she didn't know the girl's name. "Ah…I…I'm sorry, I forgot to ask, um…" she turned towards her, "what's your name?"

"Oh!" the girl laughed. "Sorry, I completely forgot, huh. I'm Miku, Hatsune Miku."

"Hatsune Miku…" Luka repeated the words to herself, remembering them. "I-it's really nice to meet you." She looked down at her feet, feeling a faint blush in her cheeks. For some reason, it felt like she could tell Miku anything, so she quietly confessed, "I've never really…had any friends before."

"Yeah?" Miku gave her a sunny smile. "I don't know why. You're awesome."

Luka felt her chest tighten at that, and she looked down again. For some reason, she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "Th-thank you. I think…I think you're awesome too."

"Aw," said Miku, sounding rather amused. "Well, thank you to you too. Anyways…" she turned her head up to stare at the sky, "I should go soon."

"N-now?" Luka said, eyes wide. "Already?"

"Hmm…yeah," said Miku, giving her a rueful smile. "I can't stay for too long."

"But…but you'll come back, right?" said Luka, feeling a surge of panic in her chest. "I'll see you again?"

For the first time, Miku's smile dropped, and she looked away, to the side. The action sent Luka into a frenzy of worry. For her to make her first friend, and for her to leave so soon…even if this was a dream, Luka had to make Miku stay somehow. "I…if you come back, we can play together again. You still need to tell me all about where you're from, and I still need to tell you all about what it's like here too…and my mom will make food for both of us, when she's around…" Even those words felt paltry and unconvincing to Luka herself, and she trailed off, at loss.

Even she couldn't think of any reasons for someone to hang out with her, and the realization brought a wave of heaviness to her body. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and fell, and Luka sniffled and looked down at the ground, not wanting to show Miku her weakness. She hadn't cried in so long that for her to break down in front of her new friend…it was humiliating, and Luka's cheeks burned even as the tears fell from her eyes.

"I wish I could tell you if I can," said Miku softly. "But I don't know if I can make it back here again."

Luka rubbed her eyes. "But…but…I really want to see you again."

"Well…hey," said Miku, "let's make a promise, okay?"

Ready to promise anything, Luka nodded and looked up.

Miku looked a little blurry through her tears. "Let's promise that…we'll take care of each other, alright?"

Luka didn't see much of a point in promising it, if Miku was just going to disappear out of her life forever, but at the same time, it seemed to her like making Miku promise that would help her stay longer, so Luka swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Y-yeah. I promise. I'll take care of you."

"Great," said Miku, with another sunny smile, holding out her hand. "Let's pinky promise?"

Luka nodded, and extended her hand to Miku's, sealing the agreement with her pinky as her mind tried to root around for something, _anything,_ to make Miku come back.

Then, she hit upon it.

"Miku…you have to come back," said Luka, the words tumbling out of her mouth. "You need to get better at…at all the magic stuff you did, so you can show me more of the cool stuff from where you're from. You said you would, earlier. And…and I'll get all sorts of cool things from here, so I can show you too. It can be like…like…" she groped for the words her teacher had used, "a…a cultural exchange!"

Miku froze, her smile fixed on her lips, before it dropped. But it was only for a moment, for quick as a flash she had another one back on. "We should get you back to your place," was all she said, and she held out her hand, squeezed her eyes shut, and concentrated. The wisps of air gathered again, and soon a cloud appeared. Luka hesitated, but Miku guided her up to the cloud, settling her on the softness.

Like before, the cloud glided up to the twentieth floor balcony, Luka and Miku in tow. Miku hopped off first, feet landing lightly on the ledge, before she helped Luka off. She looked even more tired now, as though conjuring the cloud had taken up almost all of her energy, and Luka swallowed.

"I'm sorry," she said, uselessly. "We could've used the elevator."

Miku smiled. "Hey, hey, don't be sorry. I know what I can do, don't worry. But," she sighed, "I do need to go now."

Luka opened her mouth to say something, but all of a sudden, she felt an unassailable sleepiness enter her mind. She wanted to say more to Miku, say more to make her stay, but her eyes were drooping, and Miku was fading.

All Luka could muster was a mumbled, "Promise," but she trailed off before it could become a thought, or even a question.

Still, before her eyes closed fully, she saw Miku nod. Luka felt all the strength leave her legs, felt a steady unconsciousness cover her like a cloak. She felt like she was falling, but it was only for a moment and—

And Luka opened her eyes. It was morning. She stretched and got up. It felt as though she had a dream, a strange and wonderful dream, but what it was, she couldn't remember. There was a strange, desperate clawing in her, and Luka tried desperately to capture what it was, but it slipped through the grasp of her mind, and was gone, leaving nothing behind.

"Ah…" Luka mumbled to herself, her mind still in the haze of the dream. "I guess…I should get ready for school."

* * *

 **A\N:** Well, here I am again with a new story. This one is based off of two old-school songs - Light Song and Last Night, Good Night, both by kz/livetune. Hope you all enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

It was a cold night. Luka shivered, hugging herself tightly. She should probably head back inside soon, but she had been observing the stars.

For her fourteenth birthday, her parents had bought her a telescope, noting her interest in the night sky, and ever since then, Luka was hooked. She had borrowed a book on astronomy from the library, educated herself on all the constellations and the mythologies associated with them. There was a certain romance to it, she felt. For all these years of human existence, people had looked to the stars and used them as guides for navigation, or to tell stories that persisted to this day, all across the world.

Not that Luka was using them for navigation, or telling stories about them, or anything like that. She just enjoyed experiencing the vast sense of cosmic scale. There were so many stars, and planets, and galaxies; all the spots of distant light that Luka couldn't quite make out with her naked eye were rendered clear to her through the telescope.

Those spots of light, she had read, were entire galaxies. Even the closest one was hundreds of thousands of light years away.

She drew her head away from the telescope. It really was cold; she should head in. Just as she was turning away, though, she saw a girl, sitting on the ledge of the balcony, legs kicking idly in the air.

"Wh-what the!?" Luka gaped, backing away.

The stranger lifted her head, revealing pale skin and bright teal eyes that sent a jolt of familiarity down Luka's spine. Something about this girl was…familiar, but Luka couldn't quite place it.

"Hey," said the girl, smiling obliviously, as though randomly appearing on strangers' balconies was a normal occurrence for her. "I brought something for you."

"You…what? Wh-who are you?"

The girl only laughed in reply, handing Luka a bouquet of fantastical flowers that glowed in the night. At the sight of them, Luka felt a sudden, strong stab of nostalgia, though she was certain that she had never seen such flowers in her life. They glowed in riotous colors, some nearly neon. Some weren't flowers at all, but rather, gently moving flora that resembled sea anemone.

"Be careful," said the girl, smiling. "They're fragile."

"I…" Luka wasn't sure about accepting such a gift, especially from a stranger who popped up on the balcony.

"You can put them in a vase," said the girl. "Some of them you can wear too! You can weave some of the stems together, and—"

"Ah…I don't know," Luka said, uncomfortably shifting her grip on the bouquet. "I don't know if I can, um…"

For the first time, the girl's smile shrank. "Oh. You don't like it?"

"N-no, I like it! It's just…I don't know if I can accept this."

"Why not?"

"Well…" Luka wasn't quite sure about telling the girl so bluntly that it was because she was a stranger, partially because the girl felt so uncannily familiar to her. Discomfort grew in Luka's chest, and she avoided the girl's gaze.

"Ah," the girl said, her smile dropping. But it was only for a moment. In moments, she was smiling again, and taking the bouquet out of Luka's stunned hands. "Got it. Alright, then." She turned towards the night sky, raised her arm as though she was going to throw the bouquet into the sky—

"W-wait!" Luka protested, rushing next to the girl.

"Hm?"

The words came out of Luka's mouth, and even Luka was stunned to hear it from herself. "I…don't throw them away. I want to…keep them."

The girl blinked at her. "Oh. You do?"

There was still that strange feeling in Luka's chest, that strange feeling that she was forgetting something important. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't unlock her memory.

But surely, she thought, this must be a dream. She had fallen asleep on the balcony while stargazing, or something like that. But it was so cold; how could she have fallen asleep? But still…this must be a dream. "Yeah. I'll keep it."

The girl smiled then, the cloud passing through her eyes as though nothing had happened. "That's great, then. Here you go."

Luka took the flowers. They were encased in some plastic sheath that crinkled under her fingers, breaking the silence of the night. She looked at the girl, unsure of what she was seeing, who she was seeing. The long teal hair, the deep, equally teal eyes, the pale skin that seemed to glow under the moonlight…if Luka squinted, it almost looked like the girl really _was_ glowing.

"So," said the girl, "we should do a…cultural? Exchange." She pronounced the words as though it was foreign to her, but her tone of voice was so relaxed and charming that the brief awkwardness of her pronunciation only served to add to the strangely magical mood of the evening. "What's something cool from here?"

"Well…" Luka looked out at the city. From her balcony, she could see the great, sprawling park, but beyond that, there were more buildings, nearly all with some lights on. To her south, and to her north, buildings spread out seemingly infinitely, disappearing into the horizon. Luka frowned. There was nothing cool around here, nothing _really_ cool at least. Nothing like these luminescent flowers. "I…I don't know. Things here are kinda boring."

"Really? I think it's real interesting," the girl said, looking out at the city. "We don't have big, tall buildings like these, where I'm from, and we don't have furry things running around either."

"Furry…things?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah! Like…one of them is kinda small, but it has a real fluffy tail. It's brown. I wanted to take a closer look at it, but it ran right up into the tree."

Oh. "You mean…a squirrel?"

"Squirrel…" the girl said to herself. "It _does_ look like it'd be called a 'squirrel'…"

Despite herself, Luka felt herself smile. The strange sense of familiarity she felt with the girl, while previously uncomfortable, had softened into a soft, comfy glow. For some reason, she felt as though she could tell her anything. "So…" Luka looked down at the flowers in the bouquet. "Do you like flowers? There's a lot of different kinds in here."

The girl beamed and nodded, hopping off and standing next to Luka. To Luka's surprise, the girl was slightly shorter than her. Strange, that. For some reason, she thought she would be taller.

It seemed that the girl was surprised too, for the next thing she asked was, "Er…how old are you?"

She asked it so bluntly that Luka couldn't help but to laugh. "I'm fourteen."

For some reason, the girl seemed shocked. "F-fourteen?"

"Um…yeah. How old are you?"

The girl looked down. "F…fourteen."

"Oh! We're the same age!"

"Yeah…" the girl said, shifting from feet to feet with obvious unease. "I didn't know it was so long."

The words dropped down the well of Luka's memory like pebbles. "So long? So long since what?"

The girl was silent for a few ticks longer than normal before she shook her head. "N-nevermind. Ah…hey, wanna see something cool?"

"Uh…sure."

The girl smiled and stepped back, holding out her hands in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut, a thin line of concentration appearing between her eyebrows. A mist gathered before her palms, solidifying and solidifying, until a beam of light appeared, so bright Luka had to close her eyes.

When she opened them again, the city below seemed to have transformed below her. Large, palm tree-like flora spread out under her eyes in every direction, sprouting over blue sands that shifted in the pale moonlight. There was something distinctly alien about the landscape. Far off in the distance, Luka thought she could spot the moving shadows of dromedary-like animals, though the shadows seemed cast from such a long, impossible distance that she couldn't make out the origin.

Gone were the lights, and the tall buildings. Gone, even was the winter chill, and the ever-pervasive ozone smell of the city. Instead, there were immaculate, shimmering dunes, long shadows, and alien trees.

"Wh-what the," Luka stuttered, nearly dropping the bouquet, though she recovered. To her horror, however, she saw that the plants in her hand were shriveling. "Ah!"

"Oh," said the girl, blinking, though she looked far more tired than she did scant moments earlier. "I…I forgot. You should bring those inside first."

Luka nodded, quickly opening the balcony door and stepping back inside her apartment. All at once, the familiar smell of the city entered her nose, and she could feel the cold winter breeze from the half-open door. She quickly filled a pitcher with water and stuck the plants inside, hoping that it would work, before hurrying back outside, where all at once the temperature changed back to the dry chill of the alien desert.

"What is this?" Luka asked, hesitantly approaching the railing of the balcony and looking out.

"It's just…a landscape," said the girl. "There's still some details that need to be worked out, though."

"Is this…what it looks like, where you're from?"

"Hmm," the girl said, vaguely. "I suppose you can say that."

"It's really pretty," Luka offered. "There're places that are a little like this, on Earth, too. They're called deserts."

"Oh?" said the girl, smiling. "We should go, sometime."

"It'd be nice," said Luka, thinking. "Out here in the city, it's hard to see the stars. But in the desert…I bet if you laid down, you can see a lot of them."

"Do you like stargazing?"

"Yeah. It's really interesting, how big the universe is. There're all sorts of galaxies out there. And ever since ancient times, people were telling stories about the stars, and the sun, and the moon."

There was a silence after that, the girl looking meditatively out at the desert. For some reason, however, Luka felt the need to keep talking, so she looked down at her hands and continued. "Telling stories about the sky is like…a part of human history. I've never told any stories about it, or written any, or anything like that, but…when I was younger, I, uh," Luka's cheeks flushed, "I used to talk to the stars. Back when I had no friends."

The girl laughed softly at that, and when Luka looked over, she found to her surprise that the girl was looking at her with such fondness in her eyes that Luka felt weird all over again. The way the girl was looking at her…it was the way someone would look at someone they really liked, someone they spent a lot of time with. But this was only their first meeting…

"Yeah," said the girl. "It's nice. It's cute. 'Good evening, Ms. Star.'"

Luka's eyes widened at the unexpected words. "H-how did you know that!?"

The girl shrugged, a careless gesture that only fanned the flames of Luka's embarrassment.

"H-how the…are you s-some kind of stalker or something?"

The girl only laughed at that, and Luka's embarrassment quickly grew into irritation.

"Come on, st-stop laughing!" Luka hated how she was stuttering; she had thought she had grown out of it.

"Sorry," the girl said, still chuckling. "I couldn't resist. I'm glad…I'm glad you're interested in the stars, though."

The girl's voice was so sincere that it doused Luka's irritation, leaving behind only traces. What was left behind, though, was hapless confusion. "I don't get…how did you know?"

"That's a boring question, you know?"

"Geez…" Luka sighed. "I don't even know your name."

"Maybe you can just call me 'Ms. Star'," the girl suggested, a wry grin playing about her lips, and Luka scowled.

"No way," said Luka, crossing her arms petulantly. "We're the same age. I'm not calling you 'Ms' anything."

"Okay, okay," said the girl, laughing a little. "Miku. My name is Hatsune Miku."

"Hatsune Miku…" Luka repeated the words to herself. For some reason, it sounded familiar, so, so awfully familiar. "Have we…met before?"

Miku smiled and shook her head. "Nope."

Luka's brow furrowed at the unexpected answer. "But…it feels like—"

"Anyways," said Miku, "I have to go now."

"What?" Luka's head snapped up, eyes wide as she stared at her. "Al… _already_?"

The girl gave her a rueful smile. "I can't stay too long, here."

"Am I…am I going to be able to see you again?"

Miku said nothing, only stepping forward. Before Luka knew it, the girl had grabbed hold of her hand, and Luka's eyes widened at the contact. Miku's hand was soft, and very, very warm. So warm, it felt as though she was holding some miniature sun, within her.

Before Luka could parse that, she felt the quick brush of lips against her cheek.

"Wh-what!?" Luka backed away, pulling her hand out of Miku's. The kiss burned against her skin, and Luka pressed a hand to her cheek. "W-why…why'd you…"

"Ahh, sorry," said Miku, laughing a little. "I couldn't resist."

"G-geez," Luka stuttered, rubbing her cheek. "Y-you can't just kiss people randomly, you know!"

"Oh? You didn't like it?"

That did it. Luka was _definitely_ blushing now. "N-no, I…th-that's besides the point."

"Hm," said Miku, cocking her head to the side. She was still close, though, and in her teal eyes…Luka blinked, and it seemed almost as though she could see galaxies, within them, specks of light shimmering in her iris. "So you _did_ like it?"

"I…I…"

Miku laughed softly then. "Okay, okay." She stepped closer to Luka, and Luka half-expected her to kiss her on the cheek again, but instead Miku only brought Luka close to her in a hug.

Almost instantly, Luka felt a sudden, unbearable sleepiness. Her eyes fluttered, the landscape of the desert flickering before her eyes like a candle about to go out. Between blinks, she could see the city again. Her legs gave out beneath her as sleep threatened, but Miku supported her weight.

"You know…no one else can see the desert, or the flowers," said Miku, softly, but her voice sounded as though it was coming from a very, very long distance away. "They're only for you, Luka."

 _How do you know my name_ , Luka wanted to ask, but Miku was fading, and Luka was fading, the question slipping from her mind like sand from a sieve.

When Luka awoke, she was slumped on the chair in the balcony, and it was night. Blinking dazedly, she got up to her feet. She must have fallen asleep somehow, while stargazing…but it was so cold, how could she have? Shivering, she hugged her arm and looked up at the night sky. She could see the moon, still high in the sky, and surrounding it, endless, countless stars.

Instinctively, Luka looked for her favorite, the bright, faraway blue star. It was there, as always, twinkling and winking at her, simultaneously dim from the distance, but bright in her eyes. It looked so alone, spaced away from the others...

Absurdly, Luka wondered if stars ever got lonely, as she took her sleepy steps over to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

There really was far too much homework for a reasonable night.

Luka yawned, slumped at her desk as she rubbed her heavy eyes. It was late, her friends having left for home hours ago. They had a study session at her house, but as all study sessions went, it started with the best of intentions before slowly devolving into them just hanging out, eating snacks, and really only getting a little work done.

Right. So maybe it was Luka's fault that she didn't get much homework done after all. Sighing, she looked out the window, at the shimmering sky, remembering when she used to talk to the stars.

A silly habit. Luka smiled slightly at the memory of it. She had really been such a lonely kid back then, resorting to talking to the stars. It was hard to believe that the scared kid back then grew up to be the teenager she was now. As time passed, she had grown taller, more confident, her previous nervous stutter replaced by a calm lacquer that she had at first painstakingly cultivated as a cover for her shy self.

Now, though, she had worn the mask so long that it felt as though she _was_ the mask. Gone were the jeers of her childhood, the mocking way people called her 'Toeto'. She was different now.

For some reason, thinking back on it gave her a stab of painful nostalgia, but what was there to be so nostalgic about, back then? There had only been bullying, and loneliness; there had only been gazing at the sky, and burying her head in books.

But something drove Luka that night to put down her textbooks, and walk out to the balcony, leaning on the railing and scanning the sky until she found the blue star, winking at her in the dark fabric of night. She smiled at it, as if to an old friend.

"It's been a while, since I last talked to you," she said. "I guess back then…I always said 'Good evening, Ms. Star', huh?"

There was only silence, as expected.

Luka's eyelids felt thick and heavy. She leaned her chin on her hand and yawned. Crypton slumbered below her, and Luka let her eyes travel down from the sky to the ground, only to see a speck of a girl, with bright teal hair, waving at her from twenty stories down. Luka would have missed her, if it wasn't for the fact that the girl seemed to be glowing.

"Come down," the girl called, and her voice rang clear in the summer night, even though she was so far away. For some reason, unknown to even herself, Luka nodded. But maybe it wasn't so unknown after all. It was, after all, a nice night, and Luka was bored and tired of homework.

Soon enough, Luka was walking up to the girl, who was lying in the park, gazing up contently at the sky. Once Luka approached, the girl leaned up, sending her a smile.

"Hey," she said, extending a hand. "Help me up?"

Luka did so. The girl's hand was soft and warm in hers, very warm. Something about it tickled the back of Luka's mind, but she couldn't recall. She helped the girl up, and the girl looked at her, smiling a little.

"You're pretty tall, huh," said the girl.

Luka glanced at the distance, eyeballed it to be about two inches difference in height. "I guess so. What's your name?"

"I'm Miku. Say…how old are you?"

"I just turned sixteen, a few days ago."

"Ah," said Miku. There was a deep melancholy in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't get you a present."

"Eh? It's okay. I mean, you couldn't have known. How about you?"

"I'm fifteen," said Miku with a wry grin. "I guess you're older than me. Well…happy birthday, Luka."

At the way Miku said her name, Luka felt a jolt of confusion. Putting aside the fact that Luka hadn't even introduced herself yet, there was something awfully, awfully familiar about Miku, but Luka couldn't place it. She looked into Miku's eyes, and saw dancing flecks of light in the cryptic black of her pupils. There was something dazzling about Miku's gaze, something large, infinitely so.

The feeling Luka got as a kid, gazing up at the sky, amazed at the endless expansion of the galaxy, awed at the great cosmic distances that rendered Earth insignificant...she had that very same feeling, gazing into Miku's eyes.

"Do you want to take a walk?" Miku asked, smiling, snapping Luka out of her reverie. She swept her arm out at the expanse of the park. "It's a nice night."

It was a nice night. The stars and moon shone bright above them, casting everything in a soft white glow. The park, normally so humdrum, looked almost alien in the nighttime landscape, and Luka could almost swear that she could see glowing flowers sprouting amidst the blades of grass. "Sure."

Miku nodded, and she turned and started walking, Luka next to her. They walked in silence for a while before Luka spoke. "So…do you live around here?"

"Hmm...I guess you can say that. But I'm just visiting, really."

"Oh," said Luka. Something about her felt dissatisfied with the answer, even though it had been a perfectly acceptable one, all considered. "How long will you be staying?"

Miku glanced at her. "Not too long. Only for the night, I suppose."

"Oh," said Luka, furrowing her eyebrows. "If you don't mind me asking, then, why were you sitting outside on the park? There's a lot of things to do in the city, especially if you're only visiting for one night."

"Well, I was waiting," said Miku, smiling.

"Waiting? Is it okay that you're going on a walk with me, then?"

"Yeah, it's fine," said Miku, her smile growing a little wider. She looked so earnest, Luka thought, with her easy smile on her pale face. "Do you wanna sit? It's pretty here, and we can talk."

Luka looked around. They had walked to a more secluded area near the center of the park, dubbed 'Sheep Meadow', for apparently in the olden days shepherds would graze their sheep in the area. There were very few trees, and many, many blades of grass, stretching on and on. Strange – the field seemed much larger today, so large that Luka could barely make out the buildings of the city. The environment felt intimate, as though Luka and Miku were the only two people in the universe. "Ah…sure."

Once they were both seated, Miku spoke. "So…what're your hobbies?"

"Hmm…" Luka sat back on her hands and gazed up at the night sky. "These days, I spend a lot of my time just being with my friends. We'd go shopping together, or go to the movies. I like singing, as well."

"Singing is nice," Miku agreed.

"And I guess…a couple of years ago, I got really into stargazing. I haven't done it so much lately, but…maybe I'll pick it up, again. I suppose it's not very practical, but it's still fun."

"Ah."

Luka glanced over, and Miku was smiling, soft and surprisingly affectionate.

"What is it?"

"No…nothing," said Miku. "It's just…stargazing is a really nice hobby to have."

"I…I guess," said Luka, unsure of what to make of the soft tone of Miku's voice, the melancholy of Miku's smile. "Um…how about you? What are your hobbies?"

"Me? Well…I really like flowers. Singing, too, sometimes, and creating landscapes."

"Creating landscapes?" Luka asked. "Like painting?"

Miku lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Something like that, I suppose. Where I'm from…there's not much to see. So I create landscapes for myself. At first it was only in my head, but later on, I got better at it."

"That's really impressive," said Luka, smiling at her. "I'd love to see your compositions sometime."

Miku was silent for a few moments, eyes distant, contemplating something, before she turned towards Luka. "Say…do you mind closing your eyes for a little?"

"Oh, uh…why?"

Miku shrugged off the question as though it was nothing but dust. "You'll see, after you close them."

While a more logical part of Luka was saying that it probably wasn't all that wise to trust a girl she had just met scant minutes ago at midnight in a secluded park, Miku _was_ only fifteen, and the park _was_ completely deserted. Even if Miku tried to rob her or something, Luka was relatively certain that she could take her on. Not that Luka had anything particularly valuable anyways.

"Well…okay," said Luka, closing her eyes and putting her hands over them. She heard Miku laugh, softly, and get up to her feet. Luka strained to hear any sounds, but there was nothing, save for the distant, ever-present car honks of the city. And soon, even that faded away, leaving only absolute silence behind.

"Um…Miku?"

"Keep your eyes closed," said Miku, sounding slightly out of breath, as though she had gone for a run. The sound of Miku's voice reassured her, and Luka obediently didn't move, her fingers still firmly clasped over her eyes.

Then, she heard Miku walk behind her, standing close, and then Luka sensed an odd scent. She sniffed a little, unsure of what it was and where it came from...was it from Miku? But it smelled of metal, slightly, and rocks. Of soot, and burning. It was a strange, metallic smell - not at all something Luka would associate with a girl like Miku.

"Okay," said Miku at last. "You can open your eyes now."

When Luka did, she saw that the field they were sitting in had been utterly transformed. Before, it had been a relatively nondescript field of endless grass. Now, it was as though Luka was sitting on mirrored glass, reflecting perfectly the night sky. Except, there were glowing flora sprouting up from the glass in an orderly, manicured fashion, of all sorts of impossible colors. Luminescent petals fluttered through the air, slowly, as though moving in a lazy stream. The glow danced off the reflection of the ground, playing with the light of the stars. It was as though Luka was standing in space, but with life all around her instead of the vacuum she knew it to be.

It was an impossible vision, straight out of a dream.

"Happy birthday, Luka," said Miku softly, her hands on Luka's shoulders. They felt hot, as though Miku's skin was holding back some blooming nova of heat. "I guess I lied…I got you a birthday present after all."

Luka couldn't speak – nothing came to her lips, nothing could express the awe she felt, looking at the scene before her. She could identify the elliptical Andromeda Galaxy, the rip of the Milky Way. A meteor streaked across the sky, leaving a blazing white trail behind. The petals continued their endless drift. The stars and galaxies seemed so much closer, their bright light rendered on the endless canvas of the night sky.

When she spoke, all she could muster was a faint, "H-how did you…?"

Even though she couldn't see Miku, she could sense that she was smiling. "Magic…I suppose."

Luka turned, and looked at Miku, who was standing there, looking tired, but her eyes were still earnestly trained on Luka's, as though awaiting her approval. Looking at Miku's eyes then was almost like looking into another universe, and Luka had to fight to keep herself from getting lost in that endless gaze.

"Do you like it?" asked Miku, a little shyly.

"O-of course…it's beautiful."

Miku grinned then, ducking her head modestly. "Thank you. It means a lot to me, that you do. Where I'm from…there isn't much of anything. Not even flowers. So I make them up. I make them as big, or as small, as I want them to be…but it's all fake in the end." Miku cast her eyes across the landscape, a bitter smile touching her lips. "These crumble…so easily." Miku brushed her fingers against one of the petals, and it fell apart at her touch, like ash.

"There's…nothing?" said Luka, trying to imagine it. For some reason, she had a weird feeling that there was a contradiction in Miku's words, somewhere. "At all?"

Miku shook her head. "No. Whatever there is, I have to create. But it takes some energy. You know," Miku glanced down at the reflective surface, eyes distant, "it's not at all…like how it is here."

Something about the way Miku said that spurred Luka to action. "Then…will you come to Crypton again?"

Miku glanced up, surprised. "I…"

"I'd really like to see you again," said Luka, softly.

Miku was silent for a few moments. "I don't know when I'll be able to come back again," she said at last. "I've been coming over as often as I could, but…"

"I'm good at waiting."

Miku quirked her lips up in a smile. "Well…I'll try." She stepped forward, taking both of Luka's hands in her own. Her hands felt as though it was burning, and the shock of the heat was so much that Luka nearly drew her hands back.

"Do you promise?" asked Luka, aware that the question was childish, though she couldn't help it. Something about Miku's presence made her feel like she was back to being Toeto, that weird little girl who talked to the stars.

Miku was silent for several long ticks, before she nodded. "I promise. Now…" Miku placed her hand on Luka's back, "let's get you back home."

Suddenly, Luka felt her eyelids dragged down by some unbearably heavy weight. It was achingly familiar, this sense of sleepiness, but again and again, Luka couldn't place it, and soon the cloak of sleep overwhelmed her. She felt her body sag, falling into soft, burning arms. It was someone's arms, someone really familiar, someone she should know, someone named….someone named…

When Luka awoke in the morning, she did so reluctantly. She couldn't remember much of last night…she had done some of the homework with her friends, was finishing up the rest by herself…and then what? She must have gotten sleepy, and dragged herself off to bed…right, that had to have been it.

Still, Luka couldn't shake the feeling that there had been something more, that night. Something magical…but it was lost now, in the hazy realm of dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

It was late.

Luka sighed, hefting her backpack as she walked out of her college's library. It was a little past midnight, and her friends were blowing up her phone, wondering where she was. Her roommate, Lily, was throwing some sort of party in their dorm room, and she expected Luka to be there already.

"It's not a party without you!" she had said, laughing. "You better not be a lump at the library again. Promise you'll be here at midnight, alright?"

Luka had promised, but unfortunately, her physics problem set had taken a little longer to do than she had liked. And with midterms looming in the horizon, Luka wanted to make sure that she got as much practice in as she could.

Not that parties weren't tempting, of course, but Luka had her priorities.

As she walked, she looked up at the sky, where the moon and stars shone above her. One thing that was good about moving out of Crypton, Luka mused, was that the light pollution here was far less. She could see so many stars, now, glittering in the night, in all sorts of colors.

She smiled as she looked. For some reason, stargazing had always made her feel relaxed and at home. There was something so comforting about them…so comforting that when she was a kid, she went so far as to _talk_ to them. It was the sort of embarrassing tidbit that she would only share with others if she was roaring drunk.

Shaking her head, Luka almost didn't notice the girl. She only registered her out of the corner of her eye, almost kept walking, but there was something in the girl's expression that kept Luka from continuing further. She looked lost, somehow, her teal eyes restlessly flicking back and forth. She wasn't dressed for the fall weather either, in her white sleeveless shirt, and her flowing black armsleeves. It was a rather strange outfit overall, Luka thought. Rather futuristic, with some sort of circular, metallic black object attached to her hips, glowing skirt-like petals emerging from it.

"Um," said Luka, hands on her backpack, and the girl jolted, eyes shooting up as she looked at Luka.

At the eye contact, Luka felt a shiver run down her spine. The girl had the clearest teal eyes she ever saw, flecked with what almost appeared to be stars, within them. Luka lost her words, mouth gaping slightly open, before she regained her senses.

Blushing, she tore her gaze away, but not fast enough to not notice how the girl swept her eyes up and down her figure. "Uh…are you lost?"

The girl shrugged, a loose movement of the shoulders. "No. Not particularly."

"Oh," said Luka, considering this. "Then…is something wrong?"

A slight smile curved the girl's lips. "No…not really. I was just waiting for someone."

Ah. "Did you get stood up?"

The girl exhaled into the air. Luka watched the plume breath out from between her lips, then dissipate rapidly into the frigid air. "I guess."

"Oh…that sucks. I can wait with you, if you want."

"Would you?" the girl smiled at her then, though it wasn't quite enough to hide the melancholy of her eyes. "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem…" Luka walked over to her and stood next to her. A few moments passed in silence before Luka spoke again. "So…what's your name?"

"Hatsune Miku."

"Nice to meet you," Luka said, giving her as kind a smile as she could. Something about this girl, her thin shoulders and her delicate manner, plucked at her heartstrings. "I'm Megurine Luka. Ah…are you cold? I can give you my coat."

Miku's lips quirked at that. "No, I'm fine. It's much colder where I'm from."

Luka eyed Miku's clothes. It was the kind of outfit that only seemed suitable for summer. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. By the way…if you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"Twenty," said Luka.

At that, the girl's eyes widened. Luka could see shock, plain and clear, written across her face, before it diffused into what looked like pain. "Oh...I see."

"How about you?" Luka asked.

Miku bit her lip, an edge of white teeth. "Six…sixteen."

"Sixteen!?" Luka gaped at her. All this time, she had assumed the girl was older. After all, what was a sixteen year old doing on a college campus? "Wh-where are your parents?"

"Parents?" Miku murmured, absently, rolling the word in her mouth as though she had never heard it before. "I don't know."

Looking at her, Luka felt a rush of protective instinct. It was a cold night, and Miku looked so lost, standing here in the winter, a teen on a college campus at midnight. Silently, she took off her coat and draped it on her thin shoulders. As she did so, she felt the heat emanating from Miku, and as Luka lowered the fabric, she noticed how Miku seemed to be glowing.

But that must be her imagination. After all, no matter how mysterious they were, normal girls don't glow. Luka cast her eyes about, and saw a bench not too far from where they were standing, isolated on the walk next to the college green. "Would you like to sit?"

Miku seemed preoccupied with the coat, her fingers pulling at the heavy fabric as though she had never worn something like it before. "Ah…okay."

Luka led the way, and watched how Miku followed her like a timid deer. She sat, and after the slightest hesitation, Miku did as well.

"So…what's it like, where you're from?"

There was a brief silence. Then, Miku sighed lightly and closed her eyes. "Do you want to see something cool?"

"Um…okay."

Miku put her hands out, palms forward and arms straight. A thin line of concentration appeared between her brows, and lines of flickering white energy crackled between her fingers. Next to her, Luka could feel the heat, almost enough to dispel the fall chill.

Then, around her, everything faded away. Slowly, by degrees, but undeniable. The trees, the grass, the spires of the old college administration building…all if it was fading, fading away. Only the sky stayed constant. Soon, to Luka's astonishment, they were sitting on a bench, and there was nothing around them at all, save for the void of endless black.

It wasn't as though it was completely dark, though. There were stars, and meteors, all around them. Luka turned in her seat, and saw the shapes of distant galaxies.

"It's not as cold as it should be," said Miku with a half-smile. "You're not exactly dressed for 2.7 Kelvin. But this…this is where I'm from. It's always cold, and dark, and there is nothing, all around."

Luka had stood up from the bench now. She couldn't help it; she wanted to drink in more of this sight. She tried to recognize the stars, but couldn't. "This…this is where you're _from?"_

Miku was silent, only looking down at her hands.

"There're so many stars," Luka said, awed, and at that, Miku gave a soft laugh.

"Oh…right," said Miku. "You do like stargazing, don't you?" She turned her eyes to look at Luka, and Luka looked at her in turn.

Perhaps it was only the atmosphere, but now, Luka was struck by Miku's face. Miku was uncannily beautiful. Her skin was so flawless, it almost seemed airbrushed, and her lips were a pale, perfect pink. But by far, her most striking feature were her teal eyes. They seemed infinite, a universe in and of themselves, and immeasurably old, even though by her own admission, Miku was only sixteen.

"I…" Luka said, but she couldn't speak further. Her mouth felt dry. She wanted to ask how Miku could have possibly known that, but then again, this situation was fantastical in and of itself. She had a feeling that Miku wouldn't give her a straight answer, anyways.

"How is life, Luka?" Miku asked, looking away, leaving Luka dazed.

"U-um…life is good. I just finished studying at the library. And I'm on my way back to my dorm room. I think my friends are throwing a bit of a party…"

"What are your friends like?"

"Er, well," Luka rubbed her nose, "there's Lily. She's my roommate, but we've been friends since high school. A lot of people say that Lily and I are very different, but," Luka smiled, slightly, "I think that's partially why we're such good friends. And there's Kaito…he's a guy in my physics class, he's really nice. Meiko, too – I don't think she goes to this particular college, but she goes to one close by, and she drops by here pretty often. Apparently she's known Kaito since they were kids. And there's Gakupo – we met in my drawing class. If you want, you can stop by. They're all really nice."

"I see," said Miku softly. Something about the way she carried herself then was deeply familiar. Luka was suddenly reminded of herself, back when she was a kid, looking down at her hands and wishing that she had friends, other than the stars in the night sky. The loneliness she felt back then had been so consuming.

Miku now, looked a little like how Luka felt back then. Luka felt a desperate urge to comfort her, and hesitantly put her hand on Miku's back.

"Really," she said, putting on her kindest smile. "I know we're a bit older than you, but everyone's really nice."

Miku looked at her then, for a beat longer than fully natural. It felt as though Miku was scanning Luka's face into her memory, because she was looking at her so intently.

Then, to Luka's surprise, she felt Miku rest her head on her shoulder. Miku's cheek was hot, as though she was feverish, but when Luka looked at her, Miku was still as pale and as perfect as she looked before.

"Luka," said Miku, quietly. "Do you ever get this feeling in your chest? As though it's really tight, and it's hard to breathe?"

"I…"

There was a silence, then, Miku closed her eyes, resignedly. "I don't know. Maybe I worded it weird."

"Well…sometimes, I suppose," said Luka hesitantly. She was getting that feeling right now, with Miku's head on her shoulder, but she didn't especially want to share that with Miku at the moment. After all, she didn't want to be that weird college girl hitting on a high schooler, no matter how much older than sixteen Miku seemed. There were rules about this kind of thing. "When I'm around someone I like. Or…in some of my dreams."

"Your dreams?"

"I…I don't know. But ever since I was a kid, I would sometimes get these dreams. And I could never remember what happened in them. But I would always wake up with my heart feeling all tight and funny. And I'd feel sad, too, because it always felt as though I forgot something really important. But if I concentrate, and try to remember really hard…" Luka squeezed her eyes shut, trying to conjure the faint, fading memories, "I'd remember being in all sorts of landscapes. A blue desert. A rainforest where everything was glowing. A field of stars, with petals everywhere."

Miku had tensed, raising her head half-off of Luka's shoulder. She was looking at Luka with an unreadable expression.

"And…there would always be someone with me. The same person, every time. But I could never remember their face, or their name, or even their gender. And it's sad, I guess. Because it always felt like…even though I was in all of these beautiful landscapes…I forgot the person, and the person was the one who mattered the most."

Luka had never told anyone else about these dreams. But in this fantastical situation, that was every bit as fantastical as her dreams, she felt that she could tell Miku absolutely anything. The world around them had returned to normal – gone were the stars, all around them in endless space. The grass was back, the trees were back, and all the buildings of her college, and the buildings beyond that, as though Luka had merely imagined that for a moment she was in space.

"Anyways…" Luka looked down at her feet. "Even though that person might only exist in dreams…I still want to make them proud. No matter where they are."

There was silence, afterwards. Miku looked away, biting her pink lip, before turning her gaze back to Luka. When she did, Luka was struck by how tender and honest Miku's eyes were. She was smiling too, and it was as delicate as flowers about to burst into first bud.

"Hey…do you mind closing your eyes?" Miku asked.

Luka did so, fluttering her eyes shut without thinking about it. Then, she felt the brush of lips against her cheek, briefly burning, like flicking ones' fingers through fire, and Luka opened her eyes, seeing Miku pulling back.

"Sorry…I couldn't resist," Miku said, smiling half-heartedly. She took Luka's hands, holding them in her own, gently, gazing down at them with her beautiful, enigmatic eyes.

Perhaps it was this, the desolate loneliness of her expression, and the strange pain in her eyes, that prompted Luka to lean forward. She slipped one hand out of Miku's to place it against her heated cheek, and slowly, Luka kissed her.

Miku smelled like metal, of rust, of ash. Her lips were so incredibly warm and soft against Luka's that Luka felt as though she was melting into her. She could have kissed her forever.

But eventually, she pulled back when her breath ran short, and suddenly shy, she looked down and ran a hand through her hair. "Um…sorry I suddenly…"

"No," said Miku. "It's fine." She took Luka's hands again, and when Luka looked at her, Miku was gazing at her with large, earnest eyes, so warm and tender in their affection that Luka felt helpless before them, because while Miku's gaze was honest and happy enough, there was still that hidden sadness, lurking within the murky depths of her eyes.

Luka wanted to erase that sadness from her eyes, that ever-present melancholy, but she wasn't sure how she could. She wanted to promise something, but she didn't know what she could possibly give to her. "Miku, I…"

Miku interrupted her, leaning in and kissing her again. Her hands were clasping onto Luka's tight, so tight it was almost painful. Luka's hands felt as though they were in an intense, heated cradle, on the cusp of burning, if it wasn't for Miku's skin holding back the heat. Miku's lips were intense and pleading, and when she deepened the kiss, her tongue felt like flames against Luka's lips. It hurt, a little, and Luka nearly pulled back, surprised by the pain.

"Ah…I'm sorry," Miku murmured against Luka's lips, and when she swept her tongue across Luka's lips again, it was cooler, soothing the tender spot. She trailed her lips down Luka's neck, brought her hand up to cradle Luka's back, holding her against her, and dazed, Luka could only hold tightly onto Miku's hand. She felt, absurdly, as though she wanted to fall asleep, but who could fall asleep in this kind of situation?

"Please don't forget," Miku spoke into Luka's neck then, each breath a gust of heat. She drew the line of her teeth towards the junction where Luka's neck met her shoulder, and bit, gently. Luka shivered; the sensation of Miku's kisses cooling on her neck felt even stronger, probably because of how warm Miku herself was. "I need to go soon, but please don't…"

"Wait," said Luka, feebly, trying to push herself up even as she sank further into the hazy realm of sleep. "I…I'll see you again, right?"

There was silence for a moment, and after settling Luka down on the bench, Miku withdrew her from her embrace. Almost instantly, Luka felt more lucid, more awake; the blanket of sleep had been removed, all of a sudden.

"I don't know," said Miku, softly. "I don't know if I can come back, this time."

Come back? Luka furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you…mean?"

Miku shrugged half-heartedly at her, smiling. "I just…I might not be around, that's all." She looked up at the sky, and Luka followed her gaze, up at the endless, winking stars. "You know…it takes a long time, for the light of a star to reach the earth. It has to travel light years to get here. Every time you look up at the night sky…you're looking at the past."

Luka nodded, slowly. She had known this, but she wasn't sure why this was relevant to Miku not being able to come back.

"Stars can be born, and stars can die, and you wouldn't even know about it, until years and years after the fact," said Miku, distantly. "And stars burn out the bigger they are, or the faster they use their fuel supply. In space though, there's all sorts of ways to manipulate time, but only so many, and you can never really outrun…running out."

"I…" Luka said, but she wasn't sure what to say. Miku sounded so sad, talking about this.

"So…that one, up there," said Miku, pointing at a faraway blue star, the star that had been Luka's favorite to look at, ever since she was a child. "I was… _it_ was so young. The time it took for light from that star to reach the earth…" Miku shook her head, slowly, before turning to Luka and smiling, that melancholy in her eyes again. "Well...sorry. This must not make much sense to you."

Luka was beginning to grasp it, but the conclusion was so outlandish, so outside the bounds of any kind of science she learned, that she couldn't voice it. "I-it's okay."

Miku looked at Luka for a moment before smiling and bringing her tight to her in a hug. Miku was burning up, but Luka still held tightly on to her, even though it felt like she might burn, doing so.

"Can you try to come back?" Luka asked, wincing at how childish the request sounded. "I…I would really like to see you again."

Miku laughed softly, and kissed Luka on the temple. "I'll do my best."

In Miku's embrace, however, Luka was feeling that sleepiness overtake her again. It was familiar, so familiar, and Luka fought to keep a hold onto her memories. But in the cradle of this heated embrace, it was too easy for the heat to burn all of her memories away as the gentleness of the hug stole her consciousness away.

Luka was slumping, falling…

"Luka!" said a voice, and with a jolt, Luka sat up.

She was sitting on the bench, her coat draped over her, and Meiko was staring at her, eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion. Next to her stood Kaito, one hand holding a convenience store bag, looking equally confused.

"What the hell are you doing, sleeping outside like some kind of hobo?" Meiko said.

"Uh..." Luka got up slowly, placing a hand against her head, feeling the gaping hole of her memory. The chest tightened, so tight it was hard to breathe. She had lost something important, so important she didn't know how to express it. "I…I can't remember."

"Geez…did you get wasted in the library or something? You know that's my job, right?"

"Ah," said Kaito, eyes wide. "Luka, you have something on your neck…"

Immediately, Luka's hand went up to cover it, but not before Meiko saw it too.

"Wh-wha…Luka! Did you hook up with someone on a _bench_?" Meiko stuttered. "H-holy…I mean, that's something I might've expected from _Lily,_ maybe, but _you_?"

"I…I didn't hook up," Luke protested weakly. "I just fell asleep on the bench, that's all. I must've been really tired from studying. Or something."

"Ah, geez," said Meiko, running a hand through her brown hair. "You can't just fall asleep on a bench, Luka, that's really dangerous. Alright, it's half past midnight…when did you leave the library?"

"Uh," said Luka, blinking dazedly. It had only been that long? "Fifteen minutes past twelve."

Meiko looked a little mollified. "Alright, that's good. Too short for anything to have really happened, I guess…but man, Luka, you really need to be more careful. When Lily hears about this…" she shook her head, "she's gonna have a field day."

Luka nodded slowly, getting up. She put on the coat she had draped over herself (for who else could have done it?) and slipped her backpack back on, trying to adjust her mind to normality.

What had happened? She couldn't remember, no matter how hard she tried, and the fact that she couldn't was a sear on her heart.

"Alright," said Meiko. "Let's head on over to this party Lily's got set up."

Luka rubbed the place on her neck where Meiko and Kaito had seen the mark. It felt hot, against her fingers, and Luka felt only a frustrating tickle of a memory before it dissipated into the air. "Yeah. Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

"Thanks," Luka said to the cashier, a quick bow of the head as she picked up her goods and walked back out onto campus. Thank god for twenty-four hour convenience stores. Luka didn't know how colleges would run without them.

It was hard to believe that she was going to be graduating soon. Hard to believe that, this time next year, Luka would be out in the real world, working a job and living responsibly, like how adults do. Whatever adults do, that is. Luka wasn't sure. It was all very abstract to her. She absent-mindedly reached into her bag to get a rice ball, unwrapped the plastic and bit into it. It was cold, and it didn't really taste all that good, but it'll do.

As Luka walked, she cast her eyes up at the sky, looking at the infinite array of stars. Luka couldn't really remember the last time she looked at them. Back when she was a kid, it felt as though it was all she looked at. But now she has friends, waiting for her in her warm dorm room, ready for another all-nighter, another final push through the sleepy haze with the aid of energy drinks, and Luka hadn't felt the aching need to look at the stars for a long time. The loneliness within her that had defined most of her childhood had been slowly filled over the course of her life.

As Luka walked, she spotted a girl with teal hair done up in twin tails, a girl who seemed to glow in the night as she knelt down, eyes intent on the grass. She was dressed strangely, in clean, almost futuristic attire – sleeves that hung from elbow down, showing her delicate shoulders, a skirt made up of what appeared to be glowing petals. Something about this girl was familiar, and perhaps it was for that reason that Luka walked over to her, kneeling down next to her. The girl gave no indication of having noticed her, her teal eyes staring at the grass. Luka looked. There wasn't anything particularly special about it.

"What're you looking at?" Luka asked, breaking the still silence.

"The grass," the girl answered, her voice soft and melodic.

"Oh," said Luka. There wasn't really much she could say in response to that.

The girl breathed out a sigh, brushing a hand through her hair. There was a vague frustration in her eyes that Luka couldn't deduce. "Yes. 'Oh'." The girl said the sentence in a vaguely mocking manner.

Luka frowned. "Are you okay?"

The frustration in the girl's eyes faded at that question, replaced with something else. "I'm…I'm okay. I'm sorry." The girl sighed and sat down fully on the grass. "I'm just a little sad, that's all."

"Oh…" Luka sat down next to her. "You can talk to me about it, if you want."

"Thanks," said the girl. There was a slight smile on her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes. "So…what year are you?"

"I'm a senior," said Luka. "Going to join the real world soon. It's pretty weird to think about."

"This isn't the real world?"

"Huh?" Luka blinked and looked at the girl, examining her. She does look rather young – probably a freshman. College then would probably seem like the 'real world' to someone who just graduated high school. But as a wizened old college senior, Luka knew that college was just the final gasp of childhood. "Well…no, not really. What year are you?"

"Hmm," said the girl, smiling. "It doesn't really matter how old I am. I guess it doesn't really matter how old you are, either."

"Oh." This girl was a little weird. Was she a philosophy major or something? While Luka didn't know any personally, she knew that Lily had taken Philosophy 101 once and started saying all sorts of weird things about the nature of consciousness and whether or not people had free will and stuff like that. It also had the unfortunate side effect of Lily asking 'why?' after every statement, a habit that quickly grew very irritating, no matter how much she talked about how it's the 'Socratic method'. "Um. I guess. So…I'm Luka. What's your name?"

"Luka," said the girl, softly. "I have to go soon."

"Huh? Go where?"

The girl only shrugged. She was smiling, but it didn't really look like she meant it. Her teal eyes were dimmed, but in them it felt as though it contained numerous stars. There was something fascinating about her eyes, something almost intoxicating, because to Luka, they looked so, so familiar. Who was this girl? Did Luka know her? But if she did, how could she possibly forget such a girl? With her outfit, and those eyes….if Luka knew her, then she would definitely remember her, right?

It was too uncanny, and the strange sense of finality in this conversation propelled Luka to say words that she wouldn't have considered otherwise if not for this. "H-have I," the words fumbled from her lips, "have I met you before?"

At that, the girl's eyes grew wide. The smile on her face froze, and she stared at Luka. "What?"

"It's just that, you seem so familiar…" Luka wasn't sure what else to say. She hoped she wasn't weirding the girl out.

The girl was silent, then she looked away, her thin fingers rubbing distractedly on a blade of grass. "It's okay. You don't need to think too hard about it."

Luka shook her head. She felt as though she was on the precipice of…of _something,_ but every time she tried to grasp on to a memory, it slipped away. There were all these disconnected pieces in her mind – flashes of fantastical deserts, a memory of a perfectly reflected night sky, a wisp of space. But try as she might, Luka couldn't put it all together.

There were the dreams she had, when she was young – dreams that she would wake up from, and never quite remember. Dreams where she was with another person, even though she could never remember their name, or even their face. But…in those dreams, it was always the person that mattered the most, wasn't it? This person…no matter how much Luka tried to take hold of it, it slipped from her mind, leaving nothing at all.

For some reason, Luka felt like she wanted to cry. But it would be stupid to cry in front of a stranger, and Luka wasn't a kid anymore. Still, there was an unbearable ache in her chest.

Then, her phone rang. Her thoughts aborted, Luka stared blankly at the girl. All the memories in her head slipped away from her, leaving her lost.

The girl's lips quirked. "Shouldn't you answer it?"

"I…uh..." Absurdly, Luka was afraid that if she did, the girl before her would fade away.

"It's okay," said the girl, giving Luka a soft smile.

Numbly, Luka picked up the phone and looked at the screen. It was Lily. The name stood out to her in its plain sans-serif font. It felt as though reality had broken in, as though something _wrong_ had just happened, but powerlessly Luka answered the phone and raised it to her ear.

"Yooo, Luka!" Lily said. "Where are you? We're starving here!"

"Oh, right," said Luka. "I was just, I was talking with someone."

"Wow, picking people up on a Wednesday night?"

Luka felt herself blush. "It's not like _that…_ "

"Man, I know that tone of voice. Anyways, get up here, we gotta do work. You can just get this person's number or something, can't you? This group project is due tomorrow."

The words 'group project' and 'due tomorrow' were a bucket thrown over Luka's head, cold and unpleasant, a jolt of unwelcome reality. She mumbled some sort of response and put the phone away. The girl glanced at it.

"Looks like you have to go soon," said the girl.

"I…I suppose so. My friends are waiting for me, and we have this big group project due tomorrow, but….it's really no big deal," Luka said quickly. "I can hang out with you more."

The girl's smile grew opaque. "That's very kind of you. But it's okay." She shrugged, a simple, graceful movement of the shoulders. "I have to go soon too."

At those words, which seemed all too final, Luka was afraid. But why? After all, this girl was only a stranger, wasn't she?

"Where are you going?" Luka tried. "Can I have your number?"

"Where I'm going," the girl said quietly, "I won't have such a thing. And where I'm going…it's somewhere so far, I don't suppose humans can reach it."

"Are you…." Luka couldn't say it. Instead, what she said was this. "Could you at least tell me your name?"

"Hatsune Miku," the girl said, and Luka shuddered at the wave of familiarity this name gave her. It was a surge of nameless memory, but this time, Luka was prepared. The instant she felt that twinge of recognition, she spoke.

"You're…that person, aren't you?" Luka said. "That person from…that person from my dreams."

Miku gave a start then, and stared, eyes wide. Luka counted galaxies within them. "What?"

Luka talked quickly, the memories leaving her head the moment the words left her mouth. But as long as she could outrun her own fading memory long enough to reach Miku, that was okay. "You were that girl in my dreams. When I was a kid. I'd meet you every two years. You'd create landscapes for me. Beautiful ones."

Miku's lips parted. She looked completely stunned, as though she wasn't sure what to say. On Luka's part, the moment the final words left her mouth, she found that her mind was completely empty. She had no recollection of what she just said, but she knew that it was important, and she knew that it was all tied to the girl before her. And the feelings…even though Luka couldn't remember what exactly just happened, her feelings were still strong in her chest, her heart thudding.

Miku dropped her gaze then, her fingers curling into fists. "Ah. So you remembered."

Those words, as though a key, unlocked the chains of Luka's memories. It all came back to her in a torrent. Miku letting her ride on a cloud when she was a kid, Miku creating a landscape for her in the park as a birthday present, Miku giving her a riotous bouquet of otherworldly flowers, Miku kissing her with burning lips. All the times Luka woke up, confused and melancholy…all the strange, happy memories she had floating around her head…all the times she had someone when she was lonely…

Luka had never put it together before, not like this. Once all her memories were together, she was overcome with emotion. They had grown up together, and Luka hadn't even known it. And she remembered, with an awful sense of clarity, Miku's words the last time they met – the terribly finality with which she told her that her time was almost up.

"Miku," Luka said, eyes wide. Emotion, pain and tenderness and confusion and more, all mixed together in a mass, welled in her chest. Before she knew it, she had Miku in her arms. The girl, or star, or whatever she was, was burning in Luka's embrace, but Luka didn't care. There was so much she wanted to say, but all of her thoughts and emotions were jumbled together in an inarticulate mess. "I'm…I'm so sorry. I never remembered, I never thanked you—I never told you how important you are to me, I…"

"It's okay," said Miku quietly. "I'm happy you remember. Even if it's only for a little while."

The finality in Miku's voice brought Luka to pause. "A little while?"

With a sigh, Miku stepped out of the embrace. "You won't remember this in the future. You'll remember the feeling, but you won't remember this. The place I hold in your memory…well," Miku gave a small, lopsided little smile, "it's as a small blue star, far, far away. The me here," Miku placed a hand over her chest, "is an anomaly. We're out of step in time, so it's impossible for us to meet."

"But…then how are you here?"

"Hmm. Magic…I suppose."

Before Luka could respond, her phone rang once more, again shattering her reality. At once, to Luka's horror, the memories she held on to disappeared. She quickly clicked her phone to stop the ringing. When Luka looked at the girl before her, she found that once again, she had lost her name, lost their past, lost everything in her memories that tied them together. The fact that she knew that her memories were lost were all the more painful. Helplessness rooted Luka to the spot. She didn't know what to say, what to do. Her arms twitched at her side, uselessly.

"Luka," said the girl. "I have to go now."

"I'm sorry," Luka said, weakly. "Please don't go. Will I see you again?"

The girl shook her head, and smiled. "We've already kept our promises to each other, you know?"

What promise? Luka wanted to say. She couldn't remember any promise. But instead, all she could do was stare at the girl, trying to commit each detail of her face in memory. A part of her knew it was futile, that this moment would not exist later on. But Luka had to try.

"It's the last night," said the girl quietly, and she stepped forward. Luka felt soft, burning lips against her cheek, then the gentle warmth of the girl's breath against her ear. "I'm really happy I got to spend time with you, Luka. I'm really proud of you. Just one last promise, okay?"

Luka was ready to promise anything. "What is it?"

"Be happy, with all your friends."

Luka felt a painful swell in her chest. This sentence was far more of a goodbye than any other one. She could say nothing other than a soft, "Okay."

The girl stepped back then, and smiled. "I'm glad."

She was fading, Luka saw. A warmth was spreading over Luka's body, as though she was sitting too close to a heater. The girl was glowing still, but the glow was growing weaker and weaker with each passing moment. The uncountable stars in the girl's eyes, the gentle smile on her lips...Luka had the sense that if she blinked, the girl would be gone, so she kept her eyes open as she stared at the girl, who was so important to her, yet she could barely remember.

Each second, Luka was aware that it was a memory that would not last, so she cherished every moment she had of the girl's presence, even as she became nearly invisible from her sight. Till there was nothing but a vague shimmer before her, a light that hinted at the stars.

"Well then," said a voice, barely audible, "good night, Luka."

Luka blinked.

She was alone. She had a headache in the back of her head, and her heart was weighed by some unbearable sadness. What happened? When Luka raised her fingers to her cheeks, she found that there were tears. But why was she crying?

Her phone rang. Luka fumbled with it, brought it to her ear. "H-hello?"

"What the _fuck,_ Luka!" Lily shouted. "It's like, four AM and this is due in the afternoon! Also, we're starving!"

Lily's words hit Luka like a cold bucket of water. Right. Right, what the hell was she doing? She had an assignment due tomorrow! It definitely wasn't the time to be standing around staring at some grass around campus. It wasn't like her to get so randomly distracted, and Luka felt a flush of embarrassment on her cheeks. "O-oh, right, sorry. I'm heading over now."

"Geez. It's not like you to get so wrapped up with talking to someone. Usually you're the quiet type. Alright, this person's gotta be pretty special, right?"

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb! I called you earlier and you said you were talking with someone."

Did she? Luka couldn't remember. Still, Lily's words sat in her head uneasily, without a place to slot it in to her memory. Luka was at a convenience store…she was buying food…and now she was on the way back to her dorm to work on her group project. Yet here was Lily, talking about how she was talking to someone. But…she wasn't, was she?"

"Oh. I, um. I don't really remember."

Lily let out a low whistle. "Then why're you an hour late? Ugh, you know what, I'll drill you about this later. Just come over so we can finish up our project."

"Yeah, definitely. See you at the dorm." Luka put away her phone. That was…weird. Was she really talking with someone?

Luka frowned. She felt as though she was, but her memory didn't have anything like that in there. Maybe she was…stressed or something. Yeah. Stressed. It was finals season after all, and she had been pulling a few all nighters. Maybe she took a microsleep outside, or just zoned out because she was too sleepy. Even these excuses seemed feeble to her, but she wasn't sure what else could have happened.

Either way, her friends were waiting for her. Luka looked around to orient herself in the direction of the dorm, and started to run.

.

.

.

 **Epilogue**

Luka didn't think about her childhood very often, but when she did, it was almost always when it was late at night, when she was alone.

She wasn't alone very often. She had her friends, and her occasional relationships, though she hadn't quite met anyone she was serious about yet. She had her roommates Lily and Meiko, which almost always ensured that the living room had at least one person in it, given how one worked late and the other one worked early. Still, sometimes, when it's late at night and Luka couldn't sleep, she would walk out to the living room and find it empty.

It was one such night that Luka crept out onto the balcony and looked up at the sky. Above her were the stars. There weren't as many as there were back in college due to light pollution, but Luka could still see them clear in the sky.

As always, her eyes fixated themselves on a faraway blue star, the one that had constantly been there since she was a kid. She leaned on the railing, smiling at the sight.

"Good evening, Ms. Star," Luka said quietly. The words sent a jolt of nostalgia through her, and she leaned a little further. "Wow. It's really been a while since I last talked to you, huh? I guess it must have been when I was sixteen…"

Luka heard the door open from behind her, and she glanced back. There was Lily, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Luka.

"Staying up late? You know, we got work tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know."

Lily shrugged and joined her at the railing, glancing up. "So….what're you looking at?"

"Just the stars."

"Hm. You can barely see them from here, though."

"I guess. There's still a few though. Like that one," Luka pointed at the blue star. "That one's been there since I was a kid. The little blue one."

"Huh…" Lily squinted at the sky. "I don't see anything. Guess I'm not cut out for this kind of stuff."

At that, a strange phrase floated through Luka's mind, with the air of a disconnected memory of long ago. _You know…no one else can see the desert, or flowers. They're only for you, Luka._

Luka furrowed her eyebrows. What was that voice? Who did it belong to? But as soon as the memory came into her head, it disappeared, leaving nothing but a vague sense of loss and melancholy. She glanced back up at the blue star, as if to reassure herself that it was still there.

"I guess not," said Luka at last.

The two of them stood in silence for a while, looking up at the night sky. After some time passed, Lily yawned and stretched.

"Well," she said. "I'm going to sleep now. Don't stay up too late, alright?" She clapped Luka on the back and headed back inside, the door closing softly behind her.

Luka lingered at the railing, irresolute. Now that she was alone with the night sky, all sorts of memories were coming into her head, dreamlike ones that she couldn't put a name to, ones that were fading even as she remembered them. It felt as though if she tried to grasp onto them too much, they would disappear, so Luka sat back and let the memories wash over her.

It felt almost like a goodbye – a replay of memories that Luka couldn't put a time to, like how a life would flicker before one's eyes before death. A great weariness settled in on Luka's body, and she glanced up at the star.

"Thank you for being there," Luka said into the still of the night sky. "Thank you for…everything you did." A part of her felt foolish for saying such words to a lump of plasma billions of miles away, but another part of her, made sentimental by these inexplicable memories, pushed her self-consciousness away.

The star winked at her. It almost felt as though it was thanking her too.

There was a silence, Luka standing in the night, the stars overhead. Images were flashing in Luka's mind – glowing flora, galaxies, the stars, teal hair, teal eyes, a girl with a bright smile growing slowly, slowly. Wisps of memory, but memories enough to make Luka's heart ache.

Reality pressed in at the edges of the night, hemming in its time. Soon, the memories faded away, leaving Luka with a warm glow in her chest.

It was time to go, Luka knew. She had work tomorrow, and her eyes were drooping.

"Well…" Luka said then, her voice soft. "Good night, Ms. Star."

* * *

 **A/N:** While writing this I had Re:Packaged on repeat. I've always wanted to write a story where Miku was an ethereal being, like a star. Something about livetune's music (well, something about the album Re:Packaged, at least) always gave me a melancholy feeling that I wanted to put in a story.

Anyways, thanks for the reviews, faves, and follows! I swear my next story will be less melancholic XD


End file.
